2008–09 Arab Champions League

The 6th edition of Arab Champions League, The 2008–2009 is going to play as a knockout stage from 35 clubs, The Algerian club ES Sétif entered automatically as 2007–08 champion.

2008–09 Arab Champions League

دوري أبطال العرب 2008–09
Tournament details
Dates	4 October 2008 – 22 May 2009
Teams	35 (from 1 association)
Final positions
Champions	Espérance (2nd title)
Runners-up	Wydad Casablanca
Tournament statistics
Matches played	62
Goals scored	140 (2.26 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Abdelmalek Ziaya Mahmoud Shelbaieh Rafik Abdessamad (5 goals each)
← 2007–08 2012–13 →

Format

• Each federation enter with (1~2) teams from their top Leagues

– The teams must be one of the top 5 teams in the latest season, or Cup Champions/Runners-up.

• The Number of teams of each federation enters based on the previous editions results of the Arab Champions League
• The official sponsor ART can choose the rest teams to complete the 32 teams, so it may can reach 3 teams from one country

– It's not necessary to be one of the top 5 teams.

• The Algerian club ES Sétif entered automatically as 2007–08 champion.

Participated teams

• 35 clubs will be competing from the following countries.

Asia

Bahrain (1)	Busaiteen (Bahraini PL 2007-08 Runners-up)
Iraq (1)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Iraqi Premier League 2007-08 3rd Place)
Jordan (3)	Al-Wahdat (Jordan League 2007–08 Champion) Al-Faisaly (Jordan League 2007–08 Runners-up) Shabab Al-Ordon (Jordan League 2007–08 3rd Place)
Kuwait (3)	Kuwait SC (Kuwaiti PL 2007-08 Champion) Al-Qadisiya (Kuwaiti PL 2007-08 Runners-up) Al Arabi Kuwait (Kuwaiti PL 2007-08 4th Place)
Lebanon (1)	Al-Ansar (LPL 2007–08 Runners-up)
Qatar (0)	Withdraw
Oman (1)	Dhofar (2007-08 Omani League Runners-up)
Palestine (1)	Taraji Wadi Al-Nes (West Bank League 2007–08 Champion)
Saudi Arabia (2)	Al-Hazm (Saudi Champions Cup 2007–08 3rd Place) Al-Wahda Mecca (Saudi PL 2007-08 Wild-card)
Syria (2)	Al-Ittihad Aleppo (Syrian PL 2007-08 3rd Place) Al-Taliya (Syrian PL 2007-08 4th Place)
UAE (1)	Al-Shaab (UAE League 2007–08 5th Place)
Yemen (1)	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili (Yemeni League 2007–08 Champion)

Africa

Algeria (3)	ES Sétif (Arab CL 2007–08 Champions, Algerian CN 2007–08 3rd Place) USM Alger (Algerian CN 2007–08 4th place) USM Annaba (Algerian CN 2007–08 Wild-card)
Comoros (1)	Jakam (Representing Comoros)
Djibouti (1)	FC Société Immobilière de Djibouti (Djibouti PL 2007-08 Champion)
Egypt (1)	Ismaily SC (Egyptian PL 2007-08 Runner-up)
Libya (2)	Al-Ittihad Tripoli (Libyan PL 2007-08 Champions) Al-Ahly Tripoli (Libyan PL 2007-08 Runner-up)
Mauritania (1)	ASC Nasr de Sebkha (Representing Mauritania)
Morocco (3)	Raja Casablanca (Botola 2007-08 3rd Place) Hassania Agadir (Botola 2007-08 4th Place) Wydad Casablanca (Botola 2007-08 Wild-card)
Somalia (1)	SITT Daallo (Representing Somalia)
Sudan (2)	Al-Hilal Club (Omdurman) (Sudan PL 2007-2008 Champion) Al-Merrikh (Sudan PL 2007-2008 Runner-up)
Tunisia (3)	Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Ligue 1 2007–08 3rd Place) US Monastir (Ligue 1 2007–08 4th Place) CS Sfaxien (Ligue 1 2007–08 Wild-card)

The System

• The Qualifying: Knock out stage
• Round 32: Knock out stage
• Round 16: Knock out stage
• Round 8: Knock out stage
• Semifinals and final: Knock out stage

The Awards

• The Champions: 1,000,000 $
• The Runner-up: 650,000 $
• Round 4: 200,000 $
• Round 8: 100,000 $
• Round 16: 40,000 $
• Round 32: 20,000 $
• Qualifying: 5,000 $

The qualifying Stage

• 4 teams play 1 leg match as Knock out stage.
• 1 team qualify to the next stage (Round 32).

	Semi-finals				Final
	4 October 2008 – Djibouti
	Taraji Wadi Al-Nes	4
					10 October 2008 – Djibouti
	Jakam	1
					Taraji Wadi Al-Nes	4
	6 October 2008 – Djibouti
					Société Immobilière	2
	Société Immobilière	2(p)
	SITT Daallo	2

Round 32

32 teams play home and away matches as Knock out stage.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ES Sétif	3–2	Al-Ansar	3–2	0–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–1	Hassania Agadir	2–1	0–0
USM Alger	4–3	Al-Wahda Mecca	3–0	1–3
Al-Ittihad Aleppo	0–0 (4–2)	USM Annaba	0–0	0–0
Wydad Casablanca	5–0	Shabab Al-Ordon	3–0	2–0
Al-Wahdat	3–1	Dhofar	2–1	1–0
Ismaily	7–2	Busaiteen	3–1	4–1
Al-Ittihad Tripoli	2–3	US Monastir	1–1	1–2
CS Sfaxien	3–0	ASC Nasr de Sebkha	3–0	0–0
Espérance Sportive de Tunis	0–0 (9–8)	Al-Ahly Tripoli	0–0	0–0
Raja Casablanca	6–2	Al-Taliya	4–0	2–2
Al-Faisaly	2–1	Taraji Wadi Al-Nes	0–0	2–1
Kuwait SC	(w/o) 1	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	3–0	Canceled
Al-Qadisiya	(w/o) 1	Al-Hazm	–	–
Al-Hilal Club (Omdurman)	(w/o) 1	Al-Arabi	–	–
Al-Merrikh	(w/o) 2	Al-Shaab	–	–

¹ The Kuwaiti clubs' matches canceled due to FIFA's freezing of the membership of the Kuwait Football Association.^[1]

² Al-Shaab withdrew.^[2]

Round 32 Matches Dates

• The first legs on 28 and 29 October 2008
• The second legs on 25 and 26 November 2008

Round 16

16 teams play home and away matches as Knock out stage.

Qualified teams

• ES Sétif
• USM Alger
• Ismaily
• Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
• Al-Faisaly
• Al-Wahdat
• Raja Casablanca
• Wydad Casablanca
• Al-Hazm
• Al-Hilal Club (Omdurman)
• Al-Merrikh
• Al-Ittihad Aleppo
• Espérance Sportive de Tunis
• CS Sfaxien
• US Monastir
• Al-Hilal Al-Sahili

Round 16 Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	2–8	Espérance Sportive de Tunis	1–2	1–6
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–3	US Monastir	1–1	0–2
Ismaily	7–2	USM Alger	3–1	4–1
Al-Hazm	1–5	Al-Faisaly	0–2	1–3
Al-Merrikh	7–8	Al-Wahdat	3–1	4–7
CS Sfaxien	1–0	Raja Casablanca	0–0	1–0
Al-Ittihad Aleppo	1–2	Wydad Casablanca	1–0	0–2
Al-Hilal Omdurman	(w/o) 1	ES Sétif	1–2	Withdrew

¹ Al-Hilal Omdurman withdrew.^[3]

Round 16 Matches Dates

• The first legs on 16 December 2008
• The second legs on 26 December 2008

Quarter-finals

8 teams play home and away matches as Knock out stage.

Qualified teams

• ES Sétif
• Ismaily
• Al-Faisaly
• Al-Wahdat
• Wydad Casablanca
• CS Sfaxien
• Espérance Sportive de Tunis
• US Monastir

Quarter-finals Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Faisaly	2–7	CS Sfaxien	2–3	0–4
Ismaily	3–3 (3–4)	Espérance Sportive de Tunis	1–2	2–1
US Monastir	2–4	ES Sétif	1–1	1–3
Al-Wahdat	2–5	Wydad Casablanca	2–1	0–4

Quarter-final Match Dates

• The first legs between 1 March 2009 and 4 March 2009
• The second legs between 19 March 2009 and 21 March −2009

Semi-finals

4 teams play home and away matches as Knock out stage.

Semi-finals Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ES Sétif	0–3	Espérance Sportive de Tunis	0–1	0–2
CS Sfaxien	1–3	Wydad Casablanca	1–1	0–2

First Legs

11 April 2009
19:00 GMT

ES Sétif	0–1	Espérance Sportive de Tunis
Smail Diss  32' Abdelmalek Ziaya  38'	Report (in Arabic)	Oussama Darragi 75'

Stade 8 Mai 1945, Sétif

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12 April 2009
18:00 GMT

CS Sfaxien	1–1	Wydad Casablanca
Blaise Kouassi 45'		Younes Menkari 75'

Stade Taïeb Mhiri, Sfax

Referee: Abdulrahman Al Amri

Second Legs

25 April 2009
17:00 GMT

Wydad Casablanca	2–0	CS Sfaxien
Hicham Louissi 55'  55' Fouzi El Brazi  58' Mustapha Bidoudane  62' 90+1' Nadir Lamyaghri  87'	Report (in Arabic)	Aymen Ben Amor  58' Issam Merdassi  86'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Referee: Fareed Al Marzouqi

---

26 April 2009
15:30 GMT

Espérance Sportive de Tunis	2–0	ES Sétif
Zine El Abidine Souissi 8' Wajdi Bouazzi 87'	Report (in Arabic)

Stade 7 Novembre, Rades

Referee: Essam Abd El Fatah

Final

Main article: 2009 Arab Champions League Final

First leg

9 May 2009
17:00 GMT

Wydad Casablanca	0–1	Espérance Sportive de Tunis
Younes Menkari  45+2'	Report (in Arabic)	Mickael Eneramo 30' Khaled Korbi  58' Wajdi Bouazzi  90+2'

Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca

Referee: Muhsen Basma

Second leg

21 May 2009

Espérance Sportive de Tunis	1–1	Wydad Casablanca
Oussama Darragi 89' (pen.)		Rafik Abdessamad 66' (pen.) Mustapha Bidoudane  75' Fouzi El Brazi  90+4'

Stade 7 November, Rades

Referee: Ali Hamad Al-Badwawi

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Wydad Casablanca	1–2	Espérance Sportive de Tunis	0–1	1–1

Champions

Arab Champions League 2008–09 Winners
Espérance Sportive de Tunis Second Title

Top scorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals
1	Abdelmalek Ziaya	ES Sétif	5
	Mahmoud Shelbaieh	Al-Wihdat
	Rafik Abdessamad	Al-Wahda
2	Mustapha Bidoudane	Wydad Casablanca	4
	Mustafa Karim	Ismaily
	Haikel Gmamdia	CS Sfaxien
	Ra'fat Ali	Al-Wihdat
	Abdallah Said	Ismaily
	Michael Eneramo	Espérance
	Hichem Essifi	US Monastir
3	Oussama Darragi	Espérance	3
	Wajdi Bouazzi	Espérance
	Hassan Taïr	Raja Casablanca
	Abdelhameed Amarri	Al-Merreikh
	Mohab Said	Ismaily
4	14 players		2
5	54 players		1

• Source: Goalzz.com